Cat. 83.1Lesbia mī praesente virō mala plūrima dīcit:
haec illī fatuō maxima laetitia est.Lesbia says a great many nasty things about me when her husband is there: this is the greatest joy to that fool.Note. praesente virō: ablative absolute, 'with her husband present'. mala plūrima: 'very many bad things'. illī fatuō: 'to that fool', her husband. Cat. 83.3Mūle, nihil sentīs.Mule, you understand nothing.Note. Mūle: vocative, 'you mule!'. Cat. 83.3Sī nostrī oblīta tacēret,
sāna esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur,
5nōn sōlum meminit, sed, quae multō ācrior est rēs,
īrāta est: hoc est, ūritur et loquitur.If she had forgotten me and kept silent, she would be cured: as it is, because she snarls and rails, she not only remembers, but, what is much sharper, she is angry: that is, she is on fire, and so she talks.Note. nostrī oblīta: 'forgetting me'; oblīvīscor takes a genitive. sāna esset: 'she would be sane', i.e. cured. gannit et obloquitur: 'she snarls and rails'. quae multō ācrior est rēs: 'a much sharper thing'. ūritur et loquitur: 'she burns, and so she speaks'.
Lectitō › Catullus › Poems (selections) › Catullus 83
Catullus · Carmina: selections
Catullus 83
Lesbia abuses me in front of her husband
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (36 words)
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| praesēns, -sentis, adj. | present, immediate, imminent |
| vir, virī, m. | man |
| malum, -ī, n. | evil, mischief |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus | say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| fatuus, -a, -um | foolish, stupid; (as noun) fool |
| magnus, -a, -um | large, big, great, mighty; loud |
| laetitia, -ae, f. | joy |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| mūlus, -ī m. | mule |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsus | perceive, feel |
| sī, conj. | if |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| oblīvīscor, -līvīscī, -lītus | forget |
| taceō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | be silent |
| sānus, -a, -um | healthy, sane (prō sānō: sensibly) |
| nunc, adv. | now |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| ganniō, -īre | yelp; snarl, grumble |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| obloquor, -loquī, -locūtus sum | interrupt, speak against |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| sōlum (adv.); solum, -ī n. | only (nōn sōlum … sed etiam: not only … but also); ground, soil |
| meminī, meminisse | remember |
| sed, conj. | but |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| multō, adv. | by much or far, much, far |
| ācer, ācris, ācre | sharp, shrill |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| īrāscor, īrāscī, īrātus | be angry |
| ūrō, ūrere, ussī, ūstus | burn |
| loquor, loquī, locūtus | speak |
Catullus, Carmina: selections. Latin text: E. T. Merrill (Boston, 1893), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. Vocabulary: F. Ritchie (1903, public domain) and entries written for this app. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.